I rise today in strong support of the Universities Accord (Cutting Student Debt by 20 Per Cent) Bill 2025. It is legislation grounded in fairness, opportunity and the future of our nation. For too long, a university or TAFE education in Australia has come with a heavy price tag, not just in effort and sacrifice but in years, sometimes decades, of compounding debt. Students do the right thing: they study hard, take on part-time jobs, contribute to their communities and strive for a better future for themselves, their families and our country. And for their ambition, they've been rewarded with ballooning debt and a repayment system that is not only outdated but punitive.

As promised by the Prime Minister, the changes with this bill, the very first piece of legislation to be introduced by the re-elected Albanese Labor government, show that this is a government that listens, acts and delivers. More than 25,000 students and graduates in my community in Newcastle will benefit directly from this policy. That's 25,000 lives changed, 25,000 futures made a little brighter and 25,000 reasons to support this legislation.

This bill will see a one-off 20 per cent reduction to outstanding student debts across HELP, VET Student Loans, Australian Apprenticeship Support Loans, the Student Start-Up Loan and the Student Financial Supplement Scheme, effective before indexation was applied on 1 June 2025. That means thousands of dollars will be wiped from balances overnight. It's real and immediate relief. For someone with a $27,000 debt, that's over $5,000 that will be cleared, and for a $40,000 debt, it's a savings of $8,000. This July we also raised the repayment threshold from $54,435 to over $67,000 so that people aren't forced to start paying off their loans while they're still earning very modest wages. It also replaces the current cliff-edge repayment system—which was based on your entire income—with a new marginal repayment system. Currently, once you've earned above the minimum repayment threshold, you pay a percentage of your entire wage as repayment. Under the changes in this bill, you will only pay a percentage of your wage above the minimum repayment threshold. This means more money in students' and graduates' pockets. Right now, if you earn $70,000 annually, you'll pay $1,750 each year. Under these changes, this goes down to around $450, and that's a saving of $1,300 a year.

For students and graduates across Newcastle, we are proud. Our University of Newcastle and our strong TAFE sector support tens of thousands of learners, and this bill is a game changer for them. This bill builds on the significant reforms of the Albanese Labor government—the ones we're already implementing. Last year the government wiped $3 billion off HELP debts and fixed the repayment system so that the indexation on HELP debts can never increase faster than wages. From 1 July this year, the Labor government established the Commonwealth prac payment so no-one is forced to abandon their studies just because they can't afford to work for free while on placement. Labor has also established the independent Australian Tertiary Education Commission to drive reform of Australia's tertiary education sector. Changes to the way universities are funded will start from 2026, which will help more people from the outer suburbs and regions to get the chance to go to university. We're also making it easier for those with a student loan to get into the housing market by asking the banking regulators to review their rules, and the Treasurer has already started that process.

But let's zoom out for a moment. Labor doesn't see education in silos. We understand that it's a lifelong journey from early learning, through school, into vocational education or university and beyond. That's why we're investing in every stage of that journey. We're delivering the biggest reforms to early education in a generation, making child care more affordable and accessible for Australian families. Already thousands of families in Newcastle are benefiting from cheaper child care under Labor's reforms. We're working with the states and territories to ensure that every public school is fully and fairly funded, with the biggest investment in public education by any Australian government ever. In my community of Newcastle, that means almost 18,000 students and teachers, and their families, across 43 public schools will have the opportunity to thrive.

Labor's placed TAFE at the centre of our national skills agenda with free TAFE. More than 5,100 people in Newcastle have enrolled in a free TAFE course already. This complements the significant investment we're making into the net zero manufacturing centre of excellence at the Tighes Hill TAFE in my electorate and the Future Industries Facility at the University of Newcastle, ensuring our region is playing a lead role in developing the skills needed for a net zero economy.

This is what real reform looks like, and it stands in stark contrast to the record of those opposite. Let's not forget that it was the Liberal Party that oversaw skyrocketing student debt, punitive repayment systems and funding cuts to our universities and TAFEs. And, while they talk a big game, we know that the Greens operate on the 'delay, deny, delay, deny' cycle. Just this month, the education spokesperson for the Greens political party said that Labor's cutting of student debt 'will mean nothing for young people'. Well, I would like to see that senator look the 25,000 Novocastrian students set to benefit from this in the eye and tell them it means nothing. Time and time again, the Greens political party have shown they would rather grandstand than govern, preferring meaningless slogans to real, achievable progress. Labor doesn't deal in meaningless slogans; we deal in outcomes. We don't posture; we legislate. We don't delay; we deliver.
I want to stress just how important this bill is for regional communities like Newcastle and the Hunter. Students in the regions already face higher barriers to accessing university—greater travel distances, less transport, fewer local course options and the financial pressures of moving away from home. They are more likely to be juggling study with work or to be the first in their family to go to uni and more likely to come from low-income households.

In Newcastle, students at both TAFE and the University of Newcastle are working in retail, in aged care and in hospitality, alongside their degrees, to make ends meet. The young people of Newcastle deserve to look to the future with hope, not to be dragged down by debt. And I'm thrilled to say that more than 25,000 students and graduates will soon have that hope.

I also want to take a moment to speak directly to the impact this bill will have on Australian women, because the reality is that student debt is not gender neutral. Right now, 60 per cent of all HELP debt is held by women, and they are more likely to be earning incomes below the national average, meaning it takes them longer to pay it off. This is especially true for women who are working in the caring professions—the nurses, teachers, early childhood educators and social workers; these are the very same professions that keep our communities going. These women often begin their careers with tens of thousands of dollars of debt, only to face years of slow repayment, wage stagnation and time out of the workforce to care for children or family, all of which compounds disadvantage.

That's why this bill matters—wiping 20 per cent off existing HELP debt and reforming the indexation system so your debt no longer grows faster than your capacity to repay it. We are delivering real, tangible relief, and women will be amongst the biggest winners. This isn't just a cost-of-living measure. It's an equity reform, and that's exactly what this bill delivers, especially for the women of Newcastle and right across this nation.

Education should be a ladder of opportunity, not a life sentence of financial stress. The HELP system was designed to expand access to education, and it has. But, for too many Australians, that access has come with unrelenting pressure, unfair repayment structures and a growing sense that the promise of university comes with too many strings attached. This bill is about fixing that. It's about making good on Labor's promise to govern with compassion, with fairness and with a clear-eyed view to the future. I'm proud to support this legislation on behalf of the tens of thousands of students and graduates in Newcastle and the millions more across the country. Let's get on with the job. Let's vote for a fairer, better future for every student in Australia.